Latest Articles in Wind

Advertising

The Brooklyn–based start-up SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) was formed in 2005 by the brother and sister team of Samuel and Teresita Cochran. Their goal: to invent a hybrid new approach to solar and wind power. Their Solar Ivy—flexible photovoltaic 'leaves' made of sheets of recyclable polyethylene—is a modular, ivy-like system that can be used on the sides of buildings, to capture the sunlight much like plants do. As the 'ivy' flutters and shifts in the wind, it converts solar energy into electricity.

Conceptual large-scale architecture plays a starring role in many design proposals aimed at addressing climate change. It's a bit of a paradox, since new construction is often condemned for using more energy and resources than it can ever save. The architects at ON OFFICE, however, have a concept intended to contribute to overall renewable energy production in the EU. They propose a habitable wind farm called Turbine City off the coast of Norway, which would generate power and promote tourism.

Earlier this year, Dwell editor Aaron Britt traveled down to Dallas, Texas, for a design charrette with Re:Vision Dallas. The project is a collaboration between Urban Re:Vision and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation that aims to turn a downtown Dallas city block into a beacon of sustainable building and urban design. In June, the three finalists were announced, and yesterday, the big winner debuted: a design by Portuguese team Atelier Data & MOOV.

In 1892, when John Muir founded the Sierra Club, the only "web" he knew about was the kind spun by spiders, and social networking was something people did by riding horse-drawn buggies between each other's houses. But Muir's seminal environmental conservation organization has kept up with the pace of change.